The Strangers who came to Earth
by anicoler
Summary: After the opening of the Rift Gate two days ago, everything was surprisingly quiet. However, the arrival of a new girl has roused chatter at Sherman High. Soon after the Rift Gate opens again, only this time there is a disturbance.
1. Chapter 1: A new Villain

**Galaluna:**

Bombs fired through the once beautiful empire, knocking down more pillars and putting the place to ruins. An army of Galalunan soldiers ran towards the enemies with valor and fired their guns once they got closer. In the air, multiple of Manus armors were soaring across the area, attacking any flying enemies coming their way.

A soldier was running towards a trench, a life size lizard Mutraddi was chasing him. With a powerful leap, the soldier hid behind his trench.

"Now!" he exclaimed, and with that order three soldiers popped out of the trench and fired at the creature. Withering, the Mutraddi let out a horrid cry and was gone.

Another soldier was running away from two enormous Mutraddi that resembled wolves, and running on all fours. Their abnormal mouths let out roars, giving a good glimpse of thousands of small, sharp jagged fangs. The running soldier looked behind at them for a second, but then felt himself trip over something. Hearing a snap, the soldier eyes widened. He came to a crouching position while holding on to his wrist, shutting his eyes and clenching his teeth through the pain. Suddenly he felt himself being lifted off the ground and in a matter of seconds, collided with a wall. After another snap, he was gone.

Behind that wall, two young siblings gasped and shook at the fallen soldier. The little sister buried her face into the older brother's long sleeve while whimpering. The wolves spotted the siblings and began charging at them. The young ones screamed and began running, the brother holding protectively tight onto his sister's hand. The little girl felt something hot on her bare leg and captured a small glimpse of one of the Mutraddi's face. She let out a scream as her and her brother was sent flying on the other side of the battle field. With instinct, the brother covered her protectively as they both hit the ground.

The two looked up at the wolves that were now standing over them, drool dripping from their mouths. They both raised a clawed hand-a sudden roar made them stop and look towards the source of the sound.

A massive rhinoceros, adorned with silver armor on its back and around its head charged towards the creatures. With a violent strike, the rhinoceros knocked one of the Mutraddi away from the siblings and then the other Mutraddi was faced getting zapped and killed with a beam by a giant vulture. The rhinoceros turned towards the kids and had them climb on its back. It ran off with the sibling as the vulture sent a killer beam towards the other Mutraddi.

Gazing down at the bloody battle field from the palace windows, General Modula stood tall with hands behind his back. To his left was the injured and chained by his wrists, King with eyes closed and head drooping down.

"I'm growing rather…impatient with you." Modula stated slowly to the King without turning to look at him. The King raised his head and glared wordlessly at his lost friend.

"Do what you want, I won't tell you anything." The King replied.

"Sir," a raspy voiced called. A Mutraddi soldier came running towards Modula crotched down on one knee. "There is a visitor for you." The soldier said.

"Hm?" Modula looked down at the soldier. After a moment of silence, "Well then, bring him in." The Mutraddi nodded and stood up to fetch the unexpected visitor. The palace doors swung opened and footsteps were walking towards Modula. The King looked up curiously at the stranger coming to them. Once under light, the visitor stood in front of Modula and the King.

He was a tall lanky figure, very lanky. His body slightly leaned towards the side like that of a snake. He wore a forest green gunner coat; a black strap was running diagonally in front of it. His pants were black and completed with short buckled hunter boots. He wore dark, leather biker gloves that had spikes on each knuckle. A _naginata_ was strapped to his back, but what interested Modula the most was the stranger's mask; a full face, alabaster skull mask. A deadly mask that hid his eyes so all one can see was empty eye sockets.

Suddenly intrigued with the stranger, Modula spoke. "For what reason have you come here?" he asked.

"I hear that you are searching out for a certain target." Despite his thin structure, the stranger's voice was darkly deep and yet oddly soothing.

The King's mouth hung as he stared at the stranger wide eyed, Modula raised his eyebrow with inquiry.

The stranger spoke again. "You can say that I am a bounty hunter and when there's a prey on the loose, I intend to hunt it."

"Do you kill it?" Modula asked.

Under his mask, the stranger smirked. "Depends on my mood,"

"What if you're asked to?"

"Then I would… and I assure you, General, I am the best at what I do."

"…Prove it." Modula calmly ordered.

Down at the laboratory, Mutraddi scientist were scattered all about at their stations. Some had clipboards and were writing down notes while looking up at giant test tubes, where more Mutraddi soldiers were being nurtured. Modula and the hunter walked silently to the center of the room, standing in front the test tubes.

One of the scientists noticed Modula and immediately scurried over to him. "General, sir, they are ready."

"Good…bring out the strongest one." Modula commanded. The scientist looked at him with curiosity.

"Are-are you sure, sir? I mean what if-"

"Yes, I'm sure. Bring it out."

After standing there for a moment the scientist headed for a large shed, to the left, that had the number 7 at the top. On the side of the side was a red lever. With the lever pulled down the shed made a small groan and from the bottom, the doors began rising up slowly. A low, deep growl was heard on the other side of the shed. As the doors were rising, a hoof of an animal was shown digging the dirt and slightly lifting it off the ground. It continuously did this as the doors finally came to a stop. The growl still was low.

The scientist that pulled the lever took out a long whistle and blew on it. It made a shrilly sound and the growl now suddenly became loud. The hoof was stomping on the ground and a shadowy figure was shifting about in the shed. The scientist blew on the whistle again. The horrid shrill made the Mutraddi bellow. The stomping became rapid and in a matter of seconds, it leapt out of the shed and stared at Modula and the hunter. The Mutraddi wasn't as monstrous in size as other Mutraddi; it was in fact the size of a bull.

Both of its front hooves dug the ground as it continued to stare at the two. With dark, narrow green eyes that were embedded inside a grotesque face that had a wide, scrunched up snout resting between two, ivory tusks protruding out of its mouth. To its left and right, without the tusks, that same face and those same eyes were present.

"As you must know, I need to see if you truly are worthy." Modula told the hunter. Without saying a word, the hunter reached for his _naginata_. Walking up to the beast, he held his weapon out towards the side. The room then became silent; only the Mutraddi's low growl was heard. The hunter and the Mutraddi locked eyes. The hooves continued to dig. The lever-pulling scientist slowly placed the whistle between his lips. After the third count, he blew.

The Mutraddi let out a booming roar and stomped its front leg towards the hunter. The hunter jumped away from its attack, making the Mutraddi shaking and breaking the ground. When the hunter made it back to the ground, he immediately was back in front of the creature, almost as if he teleported there. He raised his _naginata_ and amazingly pierced the Mutraddi's hoof, pinning it to the ground. The Hunter leaped in the air once the Mutraddi dragged its other front leg towards him. The hunter reached behind his back and brought out a spear, smaller than his _naginata, _and threw it down to the other leg. The spear successfully pinned it down, leaving it crossed over the leg that was pinned down by the _naginata. _

This made the Mutraddi holler; the whole room shook at the sound. It tried to raise its legs, but it was no use. The Mutraddi's head shook vigorously while his back legs where stomping on the ground with rage. As the hunter was coming back down, a bright light was forming in his hands. Once he was close enough, a beam of light hit the beast's back. Letting out one last roar, the Mutraddi arched its back with agony as the beam pierced through its body.

Too easy, the hunter thought while smirking. And this was the strongest one?

The hunter made it back down and retrieved his weapons. Modula raised an eyebrow once the hunter was standing in front of him.

"What is your name?" Modula asked.

"You may call me Skeleton Mask." The hunter replied.

"Hmm…you have potential, Skeleton Mask, well done; you've proved yourself worthy." Modula turned his back away from Skeleton Mask. "You said your mood decides whether or not you kill your prey, but what if there is a price in it?"

"I'll gladly accept." Skeleton Mask replied in his dark tone, smirking again.

"Then go…destroy Princess Ilana, however if you fail, you will not be rewarded…" Modula turned his head towards Skeleton Mask. "And depending on _my _mood, I'll decided whether to get rid of you or not. Are we clear?"

"Crystal…" And with that, Skeleton Mask disappeared.

**Earth:**

It was a very sunny day at Sherman High, and very odd, for everyone (at least it seemed like everyone) was talking, more like gossiping, about the same topic. Lance, Ilana, and Newton walked through the chattering halls, listening discreetly to the conversations.

"So did you hear about her?" a preppy girl asked her also preppy crew.

"Yeah, I think she's a foreign exchange student." A rocker boy said talking to his group of friends.

"From what country?" one of the cheerleaders asked as she was filing her nails.

"I don't know, somewhere in Europe I think." Another cheerleader replied.

"Sweet, she could help me with my French!" a jock exclaimed happily as he high-fived his pal.

Lance and Newton sat down at their usual spot; shortly Ilana joined them with her tray of food.

Sitting down next to Newton, Ilana began talking. "Geez, a lot of people seem to be interested about this new girl."

"It seems so, have any of you two seen her?" Newton inquired.

"No, I haven't." Ilana replied.

"No." Lance muttered while picking at the plate of glob with his fork.

"Hmm, I wonder what she's like; she seems like a cool person." Ilana stated while smiling and then she placed her fingertips on her chin. "But I still think it's a little strange that just about everyone is talking about her. I wonder what's so interesting."

"I don't know but I do feel a little anxious about something." Newton said.

"What's that?"

"Well, I'm still thinking about the Rift Gate that was opened two days ago. I just don't understand how we didn't find anything and how it's been quiet and peaceful for these past days. But now, coincidently, we have this new girl appearing out of nowhere and she's basically the talk of the town."

"So you think she's the one that opened the Rift Gate?" Lance looked up at Newton with alertness.

"That…I'm not sure of. I don't want to jump to conclusions but I am curious about this girl."

The bell then rang, ending lunch. The Galalunian trio cleaned up their trash.

The final bell had rung and while the trio walked towards the van, Newton was bombarded with dark blue pixels in front of his eyes.

"Another Rift Gate has opened." He stated. Lance and Ilana stopped and looked at him; now they were anxious.


	2. Chapter 2: Welcome to Earth

"I don't see anything." Ilana stated turning her armor head side to side.

"Keep looking, it has to be here somewhere." Lance said.

"Maybe it's invincible." Octus said.

Suddenly an abrupt, loud roar made them halt. They were silent as they heard the roar again.

"It came from the forest." Lance said and then he darted towards the area. Ilana and Octus followed.

Dust from falling trees floated all around the area, an earth shaking boom came from another falling tree, creating more dust. The roar was becoming distant.

"Oh no, it's getting away!" Ilana exclaimed and the three flew faster towards the source.

The trio eventually landed on an open, destructed area, with broken branches and trampled bushes to their left and right. Next to Lance, was a paw print the size of Ilana's armor and resembled a big, wild animal. Lance looked down at the print and let out an irritable grunt. "It got away…"

"I don't understand it just came here to destroy some…trees?" Ilana wondered. She looked further out of the forest and saw more paw prints ingrained in the ground.

**Afterwards:**

A frown was upon Lance's face as the three were walking home. "We can't just keep leaving like this and forget about it. There's something out there and we need to find it immediately." He stated.

"You're right, Lance but what else is there to do when we have no idea what's going on?" Ilana replied. "Like for instance, we've been out here for more than hour now and that creature still hasn't shown up. It's not even terrorizing the town what's the use in finding it? We should just sit back and wait until something happens."

"Hm…" Lance grumbled. Suddenly, he felt a small presence behind him. He continued walking as he looked behind him from the corner of his eye and slightly turned his head. His eyes narrowed when he saw nothing there. Focusing back to the front, the presence was becoming closer. A small rock was on the ground.

Lifting up the rock, with his foot, in the air Lance hurled it behind him. Newton and Ilana stopped walking to look back at Lance.

"What's wrong, Lance?" Ilana asked. The rock hit and bounced off someone's arm. The person stood there for a moment and then began walking towards the three, in long presentable strides.

It was a girl, a girl who was around their age. With black, shoulder length hair that curled naturally on different parts and a small bang that was parted to the right. The common black eyes were present and her nose was long and slightly pointed. She looked about the same height as Ilana.

She gave off an exotic appearance. Her dark molasses skin stood out the most. Like Ilana, she had her own unique style of clothing; a charcoal grey, French terry blazer with black rolled cuffs, exposing a white blouse tucked in a black waist, pleated woven skirt. Her flatted shoes matched the color of the blazer.

Now standing in front of the three with a straight posture, she gave them a small smile.

"Oh, good," she stated softly, she had a distinct accent. It did sound European, mostly southern; Greek, perhaps. "He didn't get you. I was worried at first."

"Um…I'm sorry?" Ilana asked.

The girl's eyes widened slightly and then she spoke up quickly. "Excuse me, I didn't mean to speak so abruptly. But I'm just glad to see you ok."

"Huh…but, you don't even know us."

"Well not these two boys...but I know you." Her voice suddenly went low, "Princess Ilana of Galaluna."

Lance then darted towards the girl, gripping her right arm in a firm grasp. "Who are you, how do know she's the Princess? Are you working with an organization?" He interrogated with a glare.

"Organization…? Oh!" She got out of Lance's grasp quickly. "Please, excuse me again. Allow me to introduce myself." After taking a step back she began rubbing her eyes; contacts came out. Her eyes were still closed and after a minute she opened them, revealing crimson ones. Ilana gasped as Newton's mouth was slightly opened and Lance took two steps back.

Back in her straight posture, hands at her sides, the girl stared at the three with a dignified look.

"My name is Sgt. Tara Cosmo… of the Balian Elite Army."

Ilana let out another gasp, but an excitable one. "Balian…? As in, from planet Bal?"

"Yes,"

"Wow, I'm actually speaking to one face to face," Ilana ran up to Tara and clasped her hand in hers. "It's such an honor to meet you."

"Ilana, we need to talk." Lance stated abruptly and grabbed her arm, dragging her back over to where she was before.

"Lance, what's up with you?" she asked quietly with a slight frown.

"Ilana, you can't just be making friends so quickly. You don't know what she's up to; she could be working with the Mutraddi."

"Oh, Lance, don't be ridiculous. The Balians have been our allies for thousands of generations."

"I'm going to have to agree with Lance on this one." Newton said. "She has to be the one who opened the Rift Gate and I don't think she's here on a vacation."

"Come on, you two…" Ilana muttered.

"For your safety, you can't be around her, not until I see that she's not a threat." Lance ordered.

Rolling her eyes, Ilana let out a sigh and turned away from him, her arms were crossed. "Fine…but you're the one who's going to look dumb." She headed towards Tara again while grinning at her.

"I'm sorry, I wish we can talk some more. I have so many questions! But we have to head off soon."

"Oh, that's fine. We have school tomorrow, anyway. Maybe we'll see each other then?" Tara insisted.

"Oh, so you're the new girl."

"Yes, I arrived here two days ago." Lance and Newton looked at each other once Tara said that.

"I see…well, welcome to Earth! I'll see you tomorrow then, bye."

The three then headed home. Tara turned the opposite way and took her leave.

On top of a branch, there was a person. He stared at the teens as they were going home; he then smirked.

"I have you now, Princess." He then turned his gaze towards the other girl. "But first, I must get rid of that cursed Balian." He then disappeared. A piece of his coat was left behind; it floated to the ground, shredded by the claw of a beast.

**~Next morning~**

Tara frowned slightly as she tampered with her lock; pulling, more like yanking, the blasted thing. She let out a small sigh and began turning again for the combination. With a swift tug the lock still didn't open, and then was slammed to the locker door.

"Here, this is how you do it," someone had said. The person grabbed Tara's lock; it was Lance. He put in her combination, turning it differently than she was turning. On this last rotate, Lance pulled down and the lock was opened.

"Thank you." She said softly and a tad flustered.

"Yeah," Lance stepped out of her way as she got out her books. He leaned on the other closed lockers next to her. Tara had finished getting her things and locked the door. She turned to Lance who was staring her, as if she had something he wanted to see.

Tara's eyebrows wriggled in confusion. "Uh…well, I-I'll see you around. Thank you again." She turned away from Lance and began walking the other direction. Lance eyes narrowed slightly.

Once she was far enough, Lance moved away from the lockers and followed her behind other students. He passed them as she was getting farther; her long strides seemed to get faster. Lance quickened his pace, passing the students swiftly.

Suddenly, Tara went into a light jog, hurrying down some stairs. With a silent gasp Lance darted towards the stairs also. Once he reached the bottom, Tara had already opened the door of a room. He walked up to the closed door. It was a German class.

Someone cleared their throat. Lance turned to the source and saw Ilana looking at him with stern glare.

"…What?" Lance finally asked. He put his hands inside of his jean pockets and casually walked past her. Ilana rolled her eyes and walked the other direction.


	3. Chapter 3: What had Happen was

**So sorry for the long wait, and sorry for the shortness! It will be a little longer next time. The Italics means it's a flashback.**

By lunch time, Lance's spying had lacked results. So far, what he has learned, Tara takes German, she's in the honors History class, and she brought a soda from the vending machine.

Now the three were sitting at the table. Lance ate his food looking quite perturbed.

"See, I told you, you were going to look dumb." Ilana stated with a small, victorious smile. Lance let out a grunt.

"The day isn't over yet." Newton reminded. Ilana sighed and shook her head and then spotted Tara with her tray of food.

Ilana waved her hand. "Hey, Tara, over here!" she called. Tara stopped and saw Ilana's hand. Smiling she headed over to the table. She sat across from Ilana and Newton, next to Lance.

"So, how's your day so far?" Ilana asked.

"It's been fine, thank you."

"Oh, really? Haven't noticed any stalkers around?" Ilana sent a teasing smirk towards Lance; Lance glared slightly at her.

Tara, however, chuckled at the comment. "I would hope there hasn't been any. Why do you ask?"

Ilana smiled cutely at her. "No reason. So tell me, what made you come to Earth," Ilana's voice suddenly went apprehensive, "…How is it up there?"

Tara looked down on her plate for a second and then back up at Ilana. In a grave voice, she replied: "The same, but everyday seems much, much worse...I came here on accident. While I was on the battle field, I stumbled upon a wounded Galalunian soldier in a trench. He was muttering something to himself, and the only words I could pick up were 'the Princess, the princess'. After I had helped him, he was able to tell me that he had overheard a couple of Mutraddi soldiers discussing about the hideout where the Princess was. After acquiring this information, he tried to escape but they caught him…" Tara stopped and looked down at her plate again. She looked back up. "It was a miracle that he was able to get out alive."

"What happened afterwards?" Newton asked.

"Well, I decided to go after the Mutraddi myself…"

_Tara's combat boots pattered through a long and dark area, jumping over pillars that were demolished and scattered. She suddenly stopped and looked towards her left and right; she went right. **They have located themselves in the Manus Alley, **the soldier's words repeated in her head, **when you go down towards the end, you will find an open space where a statue used to be. **_

_Tara came upon a wall with a wide gap that was unusually formed into an arch. Absently she walked up further to the gap and gazed at the colossal arch. Suddenly there was a noise; she had kicked something. Looking down she was able to see a piece of stone skidding across the pavement. She followed the stone to much larger stones, broken and dispersed everywhere. One of the broken stones had half of a face; another one had an arm without a hand. Tara's eyes lowered with lament. _

_There was a deep, irritable growl. "Well, check again." The sound of typing and a sharp chirp was heard. A tall, dark figure was standing over a flat screened monitor filled with numerous pictures that were changing every few minutes. Another figure was sitting in a chair, working with the monitor. He touched a picture to enlarge it. An image of a cave appeared; the Murtaddi touched the cave. The word "Searching" suddenly appeared in front of the cave. After several seconds, the words "Not present" appeared in red. _

_The tall Mutraddi who was standing over the screen slammed his fist on the ground. "That fool, he lied to us!" His voice was raspy. _

_"He probably wanted to look for the Princess himself, so he can be in Madula's favor." The other Mutraddi who was working with the monitor replied while turning his head towards his comrade. His voice was also raspy but a little deeper. The tall Mutraddi let out another growl and stood up. _

_"Who does he think he is?" he said. _

_Tara was hidden behind a tall boulder, listening to their conversation. "If she's not there, then where could she be?" Tara muttered. The sound of footsteps brought her out of her thoughts; they were coming towards the boulder. She went on the other side, peaking over to see the two Mutraddi heading towards the alley. _

_"I'll teach that incompetent fool what happens when I'm lied to." The tall one ranted. After they had left, Tara went towards the monitor and sat in the chair. She looked over at the changing pictures, all showing the word "vacant" at the bottom. Tara leaned back into the chair, crossed her right leg over her left, and placed her fist on her mouth, pensively. Her eyes darted towards something laying beside a tree on the far left. She turned to see a small, dome-shaped Mutraddi spaceship. She smiled ideally. _

_The ship was brightened by a deep red lighting; the front was adorned with a variety of colorful buttons. A medium sized screen was placed at the top. A lever was on the far right with a huge red button- that had the word "Eject" in white letters-above it. Tara grimaced at the numerous colors. She ran her fingers across them, deciding on which one would be the right one. Suddenly there was a soft sound. It was coming from the screen, and Tara looked up to see a bright blue light blinking on the bottom right. Hesitantly, she touched the button and was then presented a blue screen. The question that was posted caused her eyes to widen a little. _

_"Do you wish to go?" was the question. Below it were the options "Yes" and "No." _

_She clicked "Yes". In a matter of seconds, the red lightening had turned yellow. The ship shook and the sound of rushing air was heard below her. Tara gasped a little and looked all over the ship in a panic state. The shaking was becoming rapid, Tara's eyes rested on the lever and quickly she pulled it down. The ship launched in the air with an incredible speed. Tara dug her nails deep into the chair and shut her eyes tight. The atmosphere then changed. Tara opened one eye, and through the screen she saw herself zipping through a river of stars and planets. The shaking was getting worse. I'm going to crash! The words swarmed through her head. _

_After saying silent goodbyes to her loved ones, the ship suddenly came to an abrupt stop. The screen then revealed another image. It was another and a familiar planet. _

_"Earth…?" Tara muttered. _


	4. Chapter 4: Early Dismissal

**I know, super late! I'm sorry, hopefully these chapters make up for it.**

"…And the next thing I knew, I had landed behind some old building." Tara paused and began again. "I had tried to call my comrades back at home, but the fall broke my communication…for all the soldiers know, I'm M.I.A." Tara's voice became solemn and her eyes lowered a little, "I just pray that they're all alright…"

Ilana looked at Tara with sympathy, and quickly changed the subject. "So, wait, when you had arrived what made you decide to come to this school?"

"That was by accident, also. I actually stumbled across this school after I had managed to find the town. I mean, we all need a cover, right? So I decided to be a temporary high school student here. Now, of course I didn't know you all were here as well. I found out yesterday actually when I found you."

"You were the one who was in the forest." Lance interjected.

"Yes, I was."

"Of course, that explains the large paw prints…Balian armor are in the form of a variety of animals." Ilana stated with eagerness.

"Correct."

"Who were you going after; you were glad that someone didn't get to us." Lance gazed at her with interrogation, leaning on his side. Tara looked at him and her face became anxious. Slowly she turned to Ilana.

"I'm afraid that you're in great danger, princess…I was walking home on that day, but went to the forest because my armor detected an outer presence near. I saw someone in a black trench coat and he was wearing a full faced mask, a skeleton mask. He spotted me and demanded me to tell where you were. Of course I told him I didn't know, and that's when he came after me."

"And you let him get away!" Lance's voice rose mildly, not attracting attention. Tara's face was stoic when she turned to Lance.

"I'm sorry, Lance he was too fast. It was like he disappeared into thin air."

Lance scoffed. "Some ally you are."

"Lance!" Ilana placed her hands on the table and leaned over, glaring at him. She turned to Tara with a soft look. "I'm sorry, Tara."

Tara nodded her head, assuring it was all right.

The bell than rung and the four picked up their trash. Tara then took a piece of paper out of her jacket pocket.

"I just remembered they changed my 5th period. Do you any of you know where this room is?" she showed the paper them.

"You have the same class as Lance." Ilana stated. Tara turned her head towards Lance and gave him a small smile.

"Well, looks like we better head to class, then." She said and began walking away. While she was walking, Ilana gave Lance a slight glare.

"Please be on your best behavior." She said in a low voice.

Lance scoffed. "Whatever," and began following Tara.

Tara was leaning against the wall when Lance came out of the cafeteria. Her head was down, but she raised it once she saw Lance. She walked up to him, and the two began heading towards class.

"Isn't this funny, us having class together what-"

"Listen," Lance stopped walking and stooped over her, with a real threatening look. "I don't know what's your business here, but it better not cause any trouble. And let's get one thing straight. I don't care if you a Galaunian ally. If I catch you harming Ilana, you'll be sorry."

Tara took a small step back with her mouth slightly open. She blinked, looked at the ground, and then back at Lance. Her gaze was firm.

"I can assure you, Lance that I have no intentions of harming anybody. I understand your distrust in me, but please don't treat me as your enemy. There is a much bigger threat out there than me and you and I both know it."

Lance just stared at her once she began walking away. She stopped and turned her head back to look at him, waiting for him. Lance walked in front of her, and she soon followed.

The class was filled with mindless chatter from the students. Some were sitting on top of their desks, as others were standing around different corners of the room. Lance went to his seat, a desk that was a couple feet away from the door, and sat down putting his hands in his pockets while leaning back in his chair. The teacher was at his desk, writing aimlessly on a paper. He was on the chubby side a little and half bald. Tara walked up to the seat where the teacher was sitting and tapped his shoulder politely. He looked up.

"Hello, I'm new in your class." she handed him the paper. He took it and read for a couple of seconds.

"Well, welcome to my class, Tara." He had a gruff tone in his voice.

Tara grimaced a little. "Ah- it's pronounced 'Tar-ra'."

"Oops, I'm sorry miss. Well, you can have a seat two desk behind Lance, over there." He pointed towards the direction.

"Thank you, Mr. Scroll." She walked up to her seat and sat down. She placed her backpack down and folded her hands on top of her desk, crossing her feet.

Tara then looked around the room. It certainly was different compared to school on Bal. The military school had tables instead of desks, three groups of four rows. Each table had four chairs. The mentor would also be in the front of the class, but was behind a large podium. Behind him was a large digital screen that presented a battle field.

And the mentor would touch the screen, advising valued tactics as he would drag an image to a different part of the field. Tara's table was in the front, in the middle group, and she sat at the very right end of the table. Beside her was-

Tara stopped herself. No, she couldn't. She couldn't think of _him_ right now.

"Hey, you." A voice forced Tara to turn to the person. It was a girl with light skin and high red hair that went down to her upper back, and curled at the bottom. To Tara, she looked pretty tall and was wearing a strange green outfit with an enlarged 'S' in the front of the shirt and a tight skirt with strips of greens around it. And it was a tad bit short.

"Where are you from?" the girl asked and placed her hands on her hips. Tara blinked at the abrupt question. But, out of politeness, replied.

"Oh, I'm from…uh..." What did she put on that paper again? "…the Sunshine State."

The girl raised an eyebrow, curiously. "Florida?"

"…Yes."

"Oh, you sound like you from Europe."

Tara gave her a small smile. "I get that a lot."

"So what's with the accent?"

"Ah…speech impediment."

The girl scrunched her nose a little. "You're not a freak, are you?"

"Well, I would hope not." The girl scoffed with agreement.

"Let's hope not." She then went to her seat. Tara furrowed her eyebrows. What a strange Earthling.

Skelton Mask perched himself on top of a tree branch. The tree stood high near the school building, more importantly near the class. The numerous leaves hidden Skeleton Mask perfectly, and he peered inside the room where Tara and Lance were.

"I believe you two must have an early dismissal." He said and vanished, making some leaves quiver and fall to the ground.


	5. Chapter 5: Skeleton Mask

Tara furrowed her eyebrows with intrigue as she listened to the teacher's lecture. The lesson he was giving was quite interesting. She must have been the only one to think so, because everyone else were either sleeping or tapping their fingers on these odd looking remotes that had a screen. Some were writing in their notebooks, but Tara couldn't help but stare at the man as he idly talked about this Shakespeare person. Shakespeare…she got to remember that.

Tara suddenly froze as she felt a tingle on her upper right arm. There was a beep that was only audible for her. She touched her arm as the beep continued. Someone was near, someone not from this planet. She peered over to Lance's desk. He was writing in his notebook while propping his head on his other hand, clearly not paying attention, and seemed to not notice anything. Tara raised her hand.

"Yes, Tara?"

"May I please go to the restroom?" Lance stopped writing and tensed a little. He slightly turned his head.

"Sure, just take that pass hanging on the door handle." Tara stood up and headed for the door, picking up the pass first. Lance narrowed his eyes at her as she walked out. He turned to Mr. Scroll and raised his hand.

"Is it ok if I go to the bathroom also?"

"Sorry, Lance only one at a time." Lance put his hand down and slowly turned his head towards the closed door as Mr. Scroll went on with his lesson.

**~The Hall**

Tara walked briskly down the hall. She touched her arm again; the beeping was picking up speed. The presence was very near. She scanned around the hall but there was nobody.

Slow with caution, she walked down the hall. She fought the urge to change into her armor.

"So sad the both of you couldn't visit me," A familiar dark, smooth voice said. Tara turned to fix her gaze on a slightly slanted black trench and that memorable mask. His hand was gripping on his _naginata. _He walked up a couple of steps. "Glad to meet you again, young Balian."

"Who are you and what do you want?" Tara demanded as she glared at him.

"The name is Skeleton Mask, and what I want? Simple, what I had asked before. So, where is Princess Ilana?"

"Even if I did tell you, you won't harm her. You'll be stopped."

"By who, that boy and that gorilla?" he let out a sicker. Tara ignored the comment.

"And me." She said.

"Oh, is that right? Aren't you being a reliable ally?" He took another step closer, Tara backed up clenching her fists. He let out another snicker. "It's too bad that you're not a reliable leader."

Tara stopped breathing and a cold tingle went through her heart. She unclenched her fists and backed up further. Her face became fearful.

"Oh, yes I know all about you, sergeant. And let me tell you, nobody likes a-"

"Shut up!" Tara hissed. Skeleton Mask chuckled and brought something out of his coat pocket. It was a small remote with two, small round buttons. He pressed the top button. Suddenly there was a noise, a steady noise. It sounded like a tick. Tara became fearful again.

"W-what are you doing?" she muttered with demand. Skeleton Mask let out a finale sinister chuckle before vanishing. The ticking was still there. Tara looked all around her but there was nothing. She began running down the hall, frantic. Sweat was sliding down her face as she scanned the area. And the ticking continued. _Tick, Tick, Tick, Tick. _It was unbearable.

Then she spotted it; it was small, had the shape of a bar and was propped up against a locker right next to the large windows. She hurried for the item, but stopped because the ticking had stopped. There was another sound; a hissing was replacing the ticking.

A thin black smoke was slowly flowing out of the bar item. It was acceding up to the ceiling, dispersing as it did. A thin piece of smoke had reached the smoke alarm, followed by other lines of smoke.

_RING! RING! RING! RING! RING!_

The sirens blared throughout the entire hall, downstairs, the whole school building. Classroom doors were beginning to open. Teachers were walking out in front of their students. One had spotted Tara.

"Hey, what you standing over there for? Can't you hear the alarm going off, come here!"

Tara ran behind the teacher and followed him, along with the other students. Tara looked towards the side to see the other line of students walking behind. From the corner, she spotted Lance darting towards her. He stood beside her and grabbed her arm in a discreet manner.

"What did you do?" he whispered while giving her a glare.

She glared back. "Nothing-it was Skeleton Mask!"

"The one you saw in the forest?"

"Yes," she yanked her arm away from Lance's grasp, "we need to find Ilana, quickly."

"Her classroom is downstairs, so everyone is probably outside by now-"

"AHHH!" the piercing noises were heard outside the building. The ordered lines were distracted by the screams and turned asymmetrical when everyone began heading for the windows. Lance and Tara were able to have a small part of the window to gaze outside. A figure in dark attire was walking up the building with slow and steady footsteps. He was holding a spear-like weapon.

"That's him!" Tara hissed.

"Let's go." Lance said and the two began heading downstairs.


	6. Chapter 6: A new Home

Everyone gazed at the mysterious stranger, feeling great intimidation. The masked man continued walking in his steady pace, turning his head slightly to the left and right. He grumbled a little with frustration. The crowd of people was interfering with his hunt. He was going to find the princess, and if that would mean killing a few then so be it. He stopped in front of the crowd and raised his spear.

"Move…" the command was soft but filled with an unoblivious threat. They obeyed and gave him access to the school doors. Suddenly he stopped because the sound of sirens caught his attention. He turned and saw two cars swerving in front of the school. The cars stopped and the doors opened. The four men wearing blue hats hid behind their doors with guns out.

"Drop your weapon, now!' one of the men commanded. Commanded? How dare an earthling command him? Skeleton Mask made his way swiftly towards the men. Skeleton Mask stood on top of the doors, and grabbed the foolish man, with a clearly unnatural strength, by the neck collar. He tossed him over his shoulder, leaving his partner too petrified to use his gun. Skeleton Maske raised his _naginata_ and knocked the gun out of his hands.

He thrust his _naginata_ down the man's shoulder blade. As he yelped while falling down, the other two cops fired their guns. Skeleton Mask brought out his weapon and darted towards them. With a swift strike, Skeleton Mask was able to slice the guns in half. The wind that came from the strike had the two slumped to the ground.

Skeleton Mask let out another grumble. "You're wasting my time, where is-"a hard and heavy object had slammed into him. He was being dragged by the arm.

He gazed up and saw the face of a lion with dark, coral eyes. He realized that he was being dragged by the mouth of it.

Smirking, he said: "Well, hello, young Balian." The lion replied with a hostile growl. He then heard a loud whizzing sound. He gazed up and saw a colossal, blue Galalunian armor gliding above him and the Balian.

The lion led the armor to the forest; deep inside the forest. It stopped in front of a tree stump, and then hurled Skeleton Mask towards the stump. He let out a small grunt once his back made contact with it.

The lion glowed bright yellow. It soon became pixels, still having the appearance of a lion. The pixels then began what seemed like erasing the appearance away. The lion was replaced by Tara, standing with a sharp glare in her eyes. The giant Galalunian armor landed right next to Tara and was replaced by Lance.

Skeleton Mask let out a small cough before getting up. "You two are definitely going to be a pain…Well, this will be interesting." Black smoke suddenly appeared around him and within seconds he vanished.

Tara let out a small grunt. "Darnnit…" There was rustling coming from the bushes; it was Ilana and Octus. They both walked up towards Lance and Tara.

"So that was him, huh?" Ilana meant the remark as a statement.

"I'm afraid so," Tara turned towards Lance, "Now do you see what I mean? We must be cautious of all his actions."

Lance had a scowl of his face. "Let's get out of here." He said after a short pause and began walking away. Ilana and Octus soon followed. Tara took a couple of steps but stopped to look back at the tree stump. She gave a quick gaze at the three Galalunians walking in front of her before turning back to the stump.

"Upon my word, Skeleton Mask, I will not be broken down by your words..." she muttered and began following the three, "And I will not let you ruin everything."

"Oh, but you will be broken," Skeleton Mask sat on top of a tree branch while gazing down at the young Sergeant. "Your secret will be revealed, young Balian, you traitor…"

** ~Later**

"It should be around here somewhere," The Galalunians were following Tara beyond the forest. They soon came across a small creek. Tara took out a small disk and placed it in the water. The water grasped the disk, leaving it firmly attached.

The disk turned dark blue and separated the water, creating a long, black walkway. Tara took out the disk and began walking across.

"Hurry, the bridge only lasts for a minute." She said.

When they had crossed, they were blocked by a stone wall. Tara placed the disk on the middle of the wall, and it turned dark blue again. A small piece of the wall began moving back and created an opening. Walking inside, the secret cave was dark but was illuminated when Tara touched the wall. A trail off lights from both sides of the walls gave them a pathway to follow.

"What is this place?" Ilana asked.

"It's a military base-well it was one. The military use to come to Earth and use the forests as a practice field. The training here were just in case of emergencies, if it were so to happen that Earth turned into a battle field. Well, our King was concerned of Earthlings getting harmed and ordered the Generals to stop the trainings and shut down all military bases on Earth."

The four soon entered into an open part of the base. It was totally bare with dust and debris. Only a large computer was still present. It was against the wall; the monitor was cracked in numerous places and attached to a long, broken keyboard.

Tara turned to the Galalunians and gave them a small smile. "Well, this is where I'm currently staying." She stated.

"What? In this dark, dirty old place? Well, no way," Ilana walked up Tara and gently grabbed her hand, "you can live with us." She gave her a bright smile.

"What?" Lance interjected.

Ilana glared at him. "Hush, Lance."

"Live with you? A-are you sure that's alright?" Tara asked.

"Of course it is! You're our ally after all. At least you'll have a place to stay warm, and Octus can help you contact your soldiers back at home."

Tara's heart raced as she quickly took her hand away from Ilana. Ilana gave her a questioning look and Tara quickly gave her a shy smile.

"Yes, that would be nice…I'll greatly appreciate it."

So, it's settled then! Welcome to our home." Ilana gave Tara a slight bow.

"Thank you, princess." Ilana rose up and gave her a final smile before turning away to walk out of the base. Lance looked at Tara with the same threatening look and Tara gazed back at him with the same firm look. Lance then began following Ilana and Octus.

Tara let out a silent sigh and her face became grave.


End file.
